By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine

More home owners are looking at sprucing up their homes, at least according to an index by the National Association of Home Builders, which shows its remodeling index reaching a five-year high during the fourth quarter of 2011.

“As more consumers remain in their homes rather than move in this economy, remodelers benefited from a gradual increase in home improvement activity, taking us to a five-year high,” NAHB Remodelers Chairman Bob Peterson said in a statement. “2011 ended on a strong note for the remodeling industry.”

The index measures current market conditions as well as future indicators for the remodeling business.

Overall, the index in the fourth quarter reached 46.6, a pick-up in activity compared to previous quarters but still below 50. A reading below 50 signifies that more remodelers are reporting lower market activity. Still, several key components measuring remodeling in the index were measuring above 50, a positive sign that business may finally be entering recovery mode.

“The residential remodeling market has been improving gradually, mirroring the trend in other segments of the housing market,” said David Crowe, NAHB chief economist. “Stringent lending requirements and economic uncertainty continue to be a drag on demand, but we expect a modest growth in remodeling activity to continue throughout 2012.”

By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine

When tackling home remodeling projects, you’ll find some projects pay off more than others at times of resale. Remodeling Magazine, in conjunction with REALTOR® Magazine, recently released findings of its annual Cost vs. Value report for 2011-2012, revealing which remodeling projects offer the biggest bang for your buck.

Overall, the trend right now is replacement over remodeling–swapping out the old for the new rather than doing a total gut job, which can be much more costly.

This year’s Cost vs. Value report found that exterior replacement projects–such as new garage doors and a new entry door–offer some of the best returns at resale, allowing home owners to recoup close to 70 percent or more of the costs of the project at times of resale.

The following are the top, mid-range projects from this year’s report, based on what home owners stand to recoup at time of resale:

1. Replacing the entry door to steel

Estimated cost: $1,238

Cost recouped at resale: 73%

2. Attic bedroom (converting unfinished attic space into a bedroom with bathroom and shower)

Estimated cost: $50,148

Cost recouped at resale: 72.5%

3. Minor kitchen remodel (including new cabinets and drawers, countertops, hardware, and appliances)

Estimated cost: $19,588

Cost recouped at resale: 72.1%

4. Garage door replacement

Estimated cost: $1,512

Cost recouped at resale: 71.9%

5. Deck addition (wood)

Estimated cost: $10,350

Cost recouped at resale: 70.1%

6. Siding replacement (vinyl)

Estimated cost: $11,729

Cost recouped at resale: 69.5%

By Barb Schwarz, Stagedhomes.com

Photo Credit: Barb Schwarz, Stagedhomes.com

Many years ago, I coined the saying “The investment IN staging your home will always be less than a price reduction ON your home!” And that statement is as true today as it was all the way back in 1973, when I developed the concept of staging.

The math is pretty simple. Imagine a $300,000 home that’s been on the market for six months without selling. The seller is becoming more and more frustrated and considers a price decrease of 5 percent. That’s $15,000. Now imagine investing only a fraction of that sum in staging and selling the home much faster.

That’s what staging will do, and the numbers are in to prove it – time and time again.

Recent statistics gathered by Stagedhomes.com shows that 94 percent of homes staged by an Accredited Staging Professional sold in 29 days or less, compared to an average of 145 days for homes that were not staged. What’s more, homes staged by Accredited Staging Professionals stay on the market 83 percent less than a home that has not been staged.

For home stagers and real estate agents alike, it’s imperative to showcase the positive impact of home staging, both visually by showing examples of past staging projects AND by sharing statistical evidence that home staging works and that the investment is worth it many times over.

So next time a seller brings up the subject of a price reduction, make sure to share the positive impact of home staging. The investment will be less and the impact most likely more.

Barb Schwarz

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Barb Schwarz, ASP, ASPM, AB, IAHSP, is the creator of Home Staging® and the CEO of www.Stagedhomes.com. She is the IAHSP founder and chairwoman of The Board of The International Association of Home Staging Professionals® and Foundation.

Attention, home stagers, I want to hear from you! I’m working on an article about staging solutions for REALTOR Magazine online, and I’m seeking responses to the following questions:

1.) What do you consider must-haves for building a staging inventory?

2.) What accessories, tools, computer programs, mobile apps, or other items have you found useful when staging properties?

Send an e-mail with your ideas to writer Melissa Tracey at mtracey@realtors.org.

By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine

It’s bold, bright–and orange. Tangerine Tango is this year’s color of the year, according to the Pantone Color Institute. The reddish orange color takes the place as this year’s hot hue replacing last year’s reddish pink Honeysuckle.

Need an extra energy boost or an attention-getter in a room? Then Tangerine Tango is your pick, according to Pantone.

Yet, “sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive, Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it,” Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, said in a statement. “Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy.”

Orange has grown in popularity the last few years in fashion. But before you start swapping out orange for everything in home interiors so you can be on trend, recall some of of our previous posts at Styled Staged & Sold: “Orange You Glad You Removed the Carpet?” or “Is That House Orange?! Eyesores Reach New Levels.” This year’s color of the year is best done in moderation when it comes to home interiors.

Photo Credit: Pantone Color Institute

For example, patterned home accessories featuring the color can add an extra pop to pillows, bedspreads, or tabletop accessories. Or, some home owners are even choosing the orange color for kitchen appliances for an extra colorful touch. Or, Pantone suggests, maybe even a painted accent wall in Tangerine Tango can create “a dynamic burst of energy in the kitchen, entryway, or hallway.”

So has any one incorporated the orange hue when staging properties?

By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine

The Zillow Blog recently featured an interesting article by real estate pro Brendon DeSimone about how advertising the square footage of a home can derail a deal. It may make you rethink featuring the square footage on your listings.

There are no universal methods to measuring square footage, according to DeSimone. As such, the numbers in measuring a home’s size can sometimes get skewed–even appraisers may arrive at different figures. A city’s tax records may not offer up an accurate picture either, since it may omit renovations and expansions made to the property over the years. And the square footage listed on records pulled from architectural drawings of the home are considered “wall out” measurements, including the entire space to the exterior wall. Once the walls are in place, the square footage will likely be lower.

As DeSimone notes in the article, “dozens of lawsuits make it to court, and tens of thousands of dollars are spent arguing over as little as 50 square feet.”

If you feel a need to list the square footage for a home you’re trying to sell, you’d be wise to add a disclaimer like “appraiser’s estimation” or “per tax records,” DeSimone suggests.

Have you ever had a square footage dispute unravel one of your deals?

By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine

As home buyers continue to rank affordability high, more home styles are getting simpler and homes are becoming lower maintenance, according to the latest Home Design Trends Survey, conducted by the American Institute of Architects.

Simpler exterior details and the use of durable building products are growing in popularity, according to the third-quarter survey of architects, which mostly focused on community and neighborhood design.

“Consumers are favoring homes with low-maintenance exterior materials such as fiber-cement, stone, tile, and natural earth plasters,” according to the report. “This significantly outpaces any other home exterior feature in terms of its increase in popularity. Over the past year, there has been a dramatic decrease in the popularity of sustainable roofing materials, as well as in ‘cool’ roofs with high solar reflective characteristics. Tubular skylights have also decreased in popularity over the past year.”

Also, could large residential subdivisions start becoming a thing of the past? According to the survey of architects, there has been a shift away from large residential subdivisions toward smaller-scale infill development projects, which tend to focus more on affordability, access to public transportation, nearby commercial opportunities, and job centers. The survey also revealed increased interest among consumers for neighborhoods that can accommodate a growing number of multigenerational households and that encourage more interaction with the community.

By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine

Living near a billboard can lower your home value, according to a new report, “Beyond Aesthetics: How Billboards Affect Economic Prosperity,” by urban planner Jonathan Snyder.

Researchers analyzed homes in Philadelphia near billboards to see what impact the advertisements may have on property values. The study found that homes within 500 feet of a billboard were worth $30,826 less, on average, at times of resale than similar properties further away from billboards.

Furthermore, the study found that homes located further than 500 feet away from a billboard but within a community where billboards are still present also see an impact to their home prices–a decrease of nearly $1,000 for every billboard in that community.

“Billboards are detrimental to the neighborhoods they hover over,” Mary Tracy, president of Scenic America, said in a statement. “We’ve known that billboards detract from a neighborhood’s aesthetics, its sense of place, and the mental and physical well-being of its residents. Now we know that billboards have the very real impact of lowering property values.”

What do you think? Do you think billboards really can have such a negative impact over property values?

By Sharon Brown, Homescapes by Design

Don’t forget lighting updates when planning to sell. From front door lighting to bathroom fixtures and everything in between, updating lighting is an important item on a home owner’s checklist when planning to sell a home.

BEFORE

Brushed or satin nickel finishes on lighting fixtures make a subtle impact when a prospect first sees MLS pictures and decides what homes to actually spend the time visiting.

AFTER

Don’t be left off this list. Get rid of your old brass fixtures. What was once popular is now so out-of-date that it may make prospects focus on what else is out-of-date in the home.

Lighting changes the exterior feel of home as well as the interior ambiance.

Insider Tip: Check out the “commercial multi packs” available from building supply stores that cater to contractors.  These packs include new lighting fixtures for multiple rooms. They are aimed at builders who are installing fixtures for the first time in a new home, but when updating a home they are most useful. Many commercial packs also come with additional add-ons in the same style for such things as chandeliers and ceiling fans.

You want all of your lighting fixtures to have clean lines and create a cohesive look. A handyman can install the lighting for a standard three-bedroom home in several hours. Expect to spend about $500 depending on the size of your home plus the cost of the installer. The cost is very well worth it in positioning your home for a successful sale.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Stager Sharon Brown is with Homescapes by Design in Roseville, Minn. Many of her clients’ homes sell at top market value within 30-40 days of listing after they’ve been staged.

By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine

Photo Credit: Tori Lynn Wallitsch, Alliance Real Estate and Ross Designs LLC, Omaha, Neb.

The majority of real estate professionals encourage their clients to list their home during the holidays because, they say, the holidays can be a great time to sell a home, according to a survey at Realtor.com. So if you have a home for-sale during the holidays, should you stage it decked out in holiday-spirit and glow?

Most real estate professionals say “yes”–just maybe not in the Clark Griswold holiday-overkill kind of way.

About 37 percent of real estate professionals say they advise their sellers to display non-religious holiday decorations during an open house in order to make the home feel more inviting during the holidays, according to a survey by Realtor.com. Twenty-eight percent of real estate professionals say they advise their clients to display ALL of their holiday decorations–including the religious decorations. And then about 8 percent of Scrooges tell their sellers to tuck away all forms of holiday cheer and seasonal decorations, and keep the home staged how they would any other time of year.

For those who do recommend staging for the holidays, here are a few subtle ideas agents often give to their clients, according to the survey:

• 

  Photo Credit: Betty Cunningham, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, Schaumburg, Ill.

  Light the fireplace.

• Update outdoor lighting and keep it bright (the shorter days means more buyers will likely drive by at night).
• Use winter scented home fragrances before an open house.
• Make the home feel more cozy through reading nooks and blankets on couches and beds.
• Set the table to showcase holiday entertaining.
• Play seasonal music in the background (non-holiday specific).

Want more ideas for holiday staging? Check out Add Some Holiday Charm to Your Listings or 11 Inexpensive, Simple Holiday Decor Ideas